Sexuality in the Arts

Artworks by Nan Goldin:

“I used to think I couldn’t lose anyone if I photographed them enough . . . In fact, they show me how much I’ve lost.”
     - Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin describes her photographs as a “visual diary.”  She has said, “These are my friends, these are my family, this is myself.  There is no separation between me and what I photograph.”  She began working in the 1970s after the suicide of her sister.

“Photography saved my life.  Every time I go through something scary, traumatic, I survive by taking pictures . . . It is about keeping a record of the lives I lost, so they cannot be completely obliterated from memory.  My work is mostly about memory.”  
     - Nan Goldin, from an interview by Adam Mazur and Paulina Skirgajllo-Krajewska that can be read here.

(Click on images to view them individually.)

Model James King:

This is a self-portrait Nan photographed after being battered.  It was taken to prevent Goldin from forgetting the damage caused by her boyfriend’s violence.  She applies the same frankness to the lives of her close friends.

“Heart-shaped bruise”:

Kate Moss:

© All rights reserved by Nan Goldin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nan_Goldin

Other Nan Goldin posts on SIA:

Nan Goldin Part 2 of 2

Nan Goldin Gilles Dusein and Gotscho 1992-1993

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